Challenge Photo voltaic doesn’t make photo voltaic panels, nor does it make use of crews to plop them on roofs, however the startup argues it might probably shake up the residential photo voltaic enterprise by steering away from gross sales reps and automating elements of the ordering, design and set up course of.
Backed by $23 million in recent collection A funding led by Left Lane Capital, Challenge Photo voltaic says it’s on monitor to put in 30 megawatts of photo voltaic this yr, principally in California and Texas, whereas apparently undercutting a few of its rivals on value. The startup goals to prime its 2022 set up determine by an element of 5 in 2023.
However first, some context: Tesla bailed on door knocking ages in the past, solely to see its marketshare stoop. Sunrun, in the meantime, has greater than 100 gross sales jobs listed on its web site and is the highest residential photo voltaic model by marketshare. So why would reducing out salespeople work for Challenge Photo voltaic, which is presently nowhere close to as lively because the business chief?
For owners, the promote principally comes down to cost. The startup says it expenses $2.20 per watt on common for installations, and as little as $1.63 after federal incentives. That’s about 25% cheaper than the 2021 nationwide common of $2.94 per watt (earlier than tax credit), in accordance with the Photo voltaic Vitality Industries Affiliation. Whether or not it qualifies as “dramatically decrease,” because the startup characterizes it, is extra a matter of opinion. For people who’re particularly useful, Challenge Photo voltaic additionally presents cheaper DIY choices.
Challenge Photo voltaic’s income comes from marking up gear costs, for which is will get quantity reductions. The corporate says reducing out salespeople saves it as a lot as a buck per watt, and from there it leans on its in-house software program to trim the time wanted for issues like system design, allowing and coordinating contractors. For every sale, “there are about 40-man hours of labor concerned within the backend course of (not together with the bodily labor of set up which often takes a crew of 3-4 individuals 8 hours),” CEO Trevor Hiltbrand advised TechCrunch. He added that the agency’s software program contains “a instrument that has lowered engineering/CAD time from 3 hours to half-hour.”
Challenge Photo voltaic plans to make use of the collection A to increase within the Midwest and South, and to proceed engaged on its software program. Past Left Lane Capital, Challenge Photo voltaic declined to share who chipped in on the funding spherical, calling them “strategics throughout the business.”
